Happy treated crappy, all over a ball
5/17/09
I guess I’m still in shock over this whole Happy Youngster/ Chris Coghlan thing.
The media made Happy out to be some kind of extortionist and I know it’s not like that at all.
Some of the hate comments he received were so bad it has me questioning my own ballhawking adventures.
Reading those hate comments could give someone the impression that if you’re over the age of twelve you have no business with a glove at a baseball game.
Happy has since removed a lot of the threatening comments.
I can’t speak for you but I don’t know too many twelve year olds that can catch one of those BP homers. I took one of those baseballs square in the foot the other day and it still hurts.
Imagine if only kids brought gloves to games and tried to catch those missles, the end results could be scary—–>
The last Rockies game I was at I saw Robert deflect a BP baseball that was headed right into the middle of a group of teenage girls. These girls had no idea it was coming and Robert’s quick thinking prevented an injury or worse I’m sure.
Happy all I can tell you as soon as Coghlan walked up to me and said “Are you gonna give me my ball?”
With that attitude brotha I’d have said “F’ck No” broke the hell out, went home, destroyed that baseball on video and then posted it to my blog.
Happy was disrespected, lied to and treated like sheet. In the end it didn’t really matter what Happy asked for in trade for the home run ball. All the Marlins had to do was say no.
I didn’t like the Marlins accusing Happy of swapping baseballs either. That wasn’t a good way to begin the swap. I am curious as to the outcome of all this because it is likely sometime in my life I may be in a similar situation.
Personally, I would have asked for the bat Coghlan used to hit the home run autographed and a photo of the exchange.
But now that I know what kind of guy/player Coghlan is…If I ever catch one of his home runs, I’ll save myself a HUGE headache and throw the f’king thing back.
Here is what I have learned so far:
Ranter’s tips just in case you ever catch a home run ball that a player would like back.
1. Give it back or be reasonable with your requests (I still think Happy was reasonable).
2. Get everything in writing and on video 🙂 . Sometimes they’ll tell you one thing and then later either deny it or say something different.
3. As soon as deal/exchange starts to flake or they change their tune on you,….just walk. You have lost nothing at that point.
4. Cover your Hass, have witnesses. Realize if it goes sour, the media will spin this against you. Be prepared to fire back with your proof. If possible keep the whole thing as low key as possible.
5. People who don’t know you with nothing better to do will suddenly take time out of their day to pass some of their miserable existance onto you.
Remember,…In a player/fan situation the Associated Press may not be your friend.
Hang in there Happy…D
Rockpile Rant 
Hey Rockpile,
I am glad he documented everything well and had it on tape as to what he asked for. I think the Marlins came out looking bad based on what I read.
.
You know, one time I heard Charlie Steiner say that “anyone over the age of…I forget what age he used..but he said that was not a player looks ridiculous with a glove. I was like”what is up with that Charlie? ” I am sure a lot of people did not liked his comment.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
Hey D, Emily’s story made it into the Chicago Tribune, and ESPN 🙂
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/kdvr-littleroxfan-051409,0,3955109.story
It is lousy that people are treating Happy this way. This issue with Coghlan – nobody knows what he was told before he came out to get the ball – so I’m willing to give him a pass on his attitude – after all, the kid just hit his first home run and he wanted to ball! What a great moment it had to be for him. Happy doesn’t, but there are people out there who do take advantage of players and hold balls “hostage” until they get what they want. Maybe there does need to be some middle ground. Certain balls mean a lot to a player and to the history of the game – and maybe fans need to give them up without expecting something back. Put yourself in the players’ shoes – who does a “first home run ball” mean the most to? The player who hit it or the fan who caught it? And why should the player or his team have to “pay” to get it back? Something that needs to be thought about – how do we balance a fans desire to catch as many balls as they can and a players/teams desire (and maybe right) to have the baseballs that help record special accomplishments. The middle ground needs to be found. If I were Coghlan’s mom – I would have hoped that a fan of the GAME would have given it back, no questions asked. But then again, that’s what moms do!
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
EMMA-I can’t imagine being at a game without my glove. I figure the Marlins look like chumps over this whole deal everywhere except Florida. Florida’s media totally spun this against Happy.
DAN-I read it, that’s awesome. Way to go national brotha!
JULIA-Really good points you’ve brought up there. Nobody knows exactly what they’ll do until they are in that situation…D
Hey D,
Wow! What a way to treat a fan. I think Happy should have kept the ball. After reading some of the comments about what other teams gave up to their fans to get milestone balls back it seems that the Marlins are a bunch of cheap&ss jerks!
As for the media, well they’re a bunch of slugs who will twist a story to make it more sensational regardless of the damage it does.
you people are losers, anyone over the age of 12 with a glove at a game is a loser
Cool, very cool guy, “thaalderman” is. ***….. D – I believe that Happy DELETING his blog is crazy. It’s not chill to say a ton of the crap that people are sayin’ over there. Not chill at all. September’s just a summer away baby!
– Donnie
http://donnieanks.mlblogs.com/
R-LUV- I saw your comment on Happy’s blog before he deleted it, that was cool.
DONNIE-I didn’t know Happy deleted his blog until I read your comment. WOW.
ALDERMAN-Go Away, You’ve got no beef with me and I’ve got no beef with you. You don’t know me and I know you’re from Chicago and your IP address is: 76.223.22.17. Feel like leaving anymore anoymous comments? :)…D
Ranter, I just read here about Happy’s blog going ‘goodbye’ and think that’s insane! I hope all’s well with him, and thanks for putting your two cents in on this. It’s terrible how he’s been portrayed by the media.
Love your rants, dude!
~Matt
http://bloggingboutbaseball.mlblogs.com/
Hey D,
Yeah, I had to go over to his blog and lend my support. I can’t believe how he’s being portrayed. I know whenever he’s been over here he’s always been really nice and seeing how he gives a lot of the balls he catches away to the kids makes him a good guy in my book.
And as for Thaalderman, why are we losers because we are still able to get childlike excitement out something like catching a ball from one of the boys. Seems he’s a bigger loser for being so jaded that he can’t. If being able to enjoy little things like that makes me a loser I’m OK with that, at least I’m not a stupidsh!t like him.
Happy is Back!! Just saw that the Coghlan post and a couple of new ones are up. I have caught a few balls that were wanted back by the player or team and never had issues with something like this. More bizarre was when I caught Dave Winfields 450th and he came and asked what I wanted for the ball that was in his locker. WhATTTT?? I still had the ball in my glove. It seems a clubhouse attendant was sent out to try to find the person that caught the ball and when he couldn’t find me he just took another game ball and stuck it in his locker. Thankfully the usher , my friend and myself let Winfield know that I still had the ball!
Either way, these days with the money that players make and the assinine amounts of money we all pay to go to the games why the hell shouldnt you ask for a couple of bats!!
You were right on with the no gloves if you are over 12 thing. It would get ugly with a lot of people getting nailed by balls. On the other hand many of the adults that bring gloves should just leave them at home since they don’t know how to catch a ball with them!!
Either way my glove goes to every game I go to whether it’s a MLB game or a minor league game!!
John
Baseballs 4 MADD (Catching baseballs for charity this year)
Major League Ballhawk
http://ballhawk.mlblogs.com